The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 32

CALENDAR Cos Angeles (Times San Diego County Friday. June 22. 1984 Part I AS PACT DEADLINE NEARS, SO MAY DIRECTORS' STRIKE By DALE POLLOCK. Times Film Writer Will film and television directors go on strike for the first time in their union's 50-year history when their contract expires at midnight June 30? The fate of future movie and TV series production, not to mention coverage this summer of the Olympic Games and the political conventions, hangs on that question. If the 7.300 members of the Analysis Directors Guild of America (DGA) walk off the job, which at this juncture looms as a distinct possibility, virtually all filmed and taped entertainment would come to an abrupt halt Network news and sports operations also would be affected.

Although contract negotiations have- jeopardize their current record profits. The current negotiations for a new three-year contract are being privately described by both sides as the most intensive and bitter in recent Hollywood labor history. Analysis of the issues is made difficult by the press embargo, which means that virtually all com menu are made off the record and that information must be gleaned from newsletters sent out by the directors. But, clearly, these contract ulks Uckle the overriding issue of the changing nature of the entertainment industry in light of recent technological develop, menu (such as videocassettes and cable TV) and the determination of who will share in the anticipated riches from those Please see DIRECTORS, Page 16 been quietly going on since April 19, with virtually no publicity because of a self-imposed press embargo, the expiration date for the directors' pact is just eight days away, and both sides privately indicate that there is no likely settlement in sight. Concern in the entertainment industry is growing daily, because if the directors walk out.

actors, writers and technical crews will be thrown out of work, too. Directors have called for a summit meeting Saturday of all the Hollywood union and guild leaders to hear a report on the status of the Ulks. The fact that the directors have never gone on strike provides little solace in the strained atmosphere of the ongoing ulks. The producers may be betting that the union will remain reluctant to strike, especially when many of its less prominent guild members are already out of work, while the directors believe that the studios and networks are loathe to Hiiujp nvm POP MUSIC REVIEW R.E.M. HIP HOES DOWN A COUNTY FAIR By ROBERT HILBURN, Timet Pop Music Critic DEL MAR County Fairs are quintessential Middle Americana; the land of fun zones, cotton candy and nosulgic, family entertainment from the likes of Tennessee Ernie Ford or Roger Miller.

So, what was R.E.M. the hippesl American rock band to emerge in the if I Mls BaMSJe- S.D. STAGE REVIEW MUSICAL VERSION OF TWAIN'S CLASSIC By MATT DAMSKER. San Diego County Art Writer LA JOLLA A scene: Jim, the runaway slave, says a forlorn goodby to his friend Huck, the poor Missouri white boy. Huck.

played by Tuck Milligan. Ukes his hesiUnt leave singing a magnolia-sweet paean to his self-doubt and emerging sense of human equality "Maybe leavin'i not the only way to go." Huck moves off the sUge. heads halfway into the theater, crosses the house and finally reunites on stage with Jim. played by Ben Halley Jr. Another scene: Young Harney Shepherdson (Geoff NauffU) has been stopped in his efforts to elope with Col.

Grangerford's daughter (Susan Berman). The Shepherdson Granger! ord family feud is at a flash point The Colonel, played by Ull. white-haired character actor John Anderson, aims a shotgun at Harney. BANG! Huck looks on. stunned and horrified.

Again, halfway into the theater, in the wide space between seating sections, two young actors quickly replay the shooting, once removed from iU original staging. It's a perfect theatrical illustration of how folklore is born, once removed from actual evenU. Obviously, this is a dense, ambitious play. Director Des McAnuff rattles off the numbers 17 actors playing 85 characters. 55 scenes, 30 pieces of music, about 800 cues.

"It's like wading through McAnuff said, laughing, during a rehearsal break. McAnuff and company are wading through "Big Riven The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," a musical adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel, now in iU centennial printing. The production, which opens Sunday night at the Mandell Weiss Center for the Performing Arts at UC San Diego, is the season's first Please see MUSICAL, Page Tuck Milligan plays Huckleberry Finn and Ben Halley Jr. plays Jim in the musical adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel. CLASSICAL The 1857 opening of "Simon Boccanegra" may have been a failure, but the opera, now widely accepted by opera lovers, will open here to more appreciative audiences with the leading Verdi baritone Sherrill Milnes in the 1984 Verdi Festival at the Civic Theatre.

Written for a Venetian theater and set in Hth-Century Genoa, the tale of political intrigue was significantly revised in 1881 with the help of Verdi's skilled librettist. Arrigo Bono. In Saturday's opening, diva Martina Arroyo of the Metropolitan Opera will sing the roles of Maria and Amelia opposite Milnes' Cenoese corsair. Boccanegra. and Nicola Chiuselev will play Andrea.

Amelia's guardian and secret grandfather. Saturday's performance complements the opening Thursday of "I maanadieri." starring Dame Joan Sutherland in the West Coast premiere of the opera directed by Tito Capo-bianco. Tenor Gordon Greer plays the renegade Carlo, estranged son of the aged Massimiliano, played by bass Dimitry Kavrakos. Richard Bonynge joins the stellar production as conductor. The Verdi Festival, begun in 1978 and terminated in 1982, was revived this year, which is expected to be its finale because of the expense.

This weekend "Simon Boccanegra" will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday and "I masnadieri" will be sung at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tph Bach Society of La Jolla presents "A I Weekend of Music" with three performances at The Congregational Church in La Jolla. Tonight the UC San Diego Madrigal Singers will perform French chansons of the 16th Century and Baroque chromatic motets, and Fred Benedetti will present works by Bach on guitar.

The Allegro Quartet, with musicians on flute, cello, keyboard and oboe, will perform works by Bach. Telemann. Vivaldi and Quantz with soprano Carolee Thornburg. Both evening performances will begin at 8 p.m. In a festival worship Sunday, the Festival Double Choir will sing Bach's "Komm, Jesu.

Komm," with organ accompaniment at 10:30 a.m. POP Once acclaimed as a studio musician the versatile guitarist-composer known to fans as "Captain Fingers." Lee Ritenour. is now renowned as a solo performer. His hit "Is it You?" crossed musical boundaries, surprising even Ritenour by hitting pop, jazz and adult contemporary charts. He will perform here as part of the Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay series on Shelter Island at 6:30 p.m.

and 9 p.m. today and Saturday. A folk-rock band that won the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 1972 and produced 13 gold and platinum records. America later foundered, finding work only as an opener for big name acts. But the band of-A Horse With No Name," "Ventura Highway." 'Tin Man" and "Sister Golden Hair" fame made a comeback as a duo in 1982 with the hit "You Can Do Magic." America, with Dewey Bunell and Gerry Beckley.

will perform five concerts outdoors at San Diego Wild Animal Park's Mahala Amphitheater, at 7:30 tonight and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have been performing on clarinet, bass, piano, banjo, drums or tuba for the better part of this century. Members of the group, named for a New Orleans hall where musicians joined to play for pleasure, are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

They offer various styles of early jazz, and songs such as "Bourbon Street Parade" and "Basin Street Blues." Led by trumpeter Percy Humphrey, the jazzmen will play in Balboa Park's Starlight Bowl at 8:30 p.m. Monday. Willy Bippp Biff Wiff. Spike Takular. Duke la Doo and Miss Marta will present their musical comedy act featuring favorites Love Medley," "Soused of the Border." and "Ronnie Reagan Land" in performances at the Bowery Theater this weekend.

The Piparoos, winners of the Old Globe Theatre's Comedy Contest, will perform vocal parodies of current trends and local life styles at 11 p.m. today and Saturday. "Juice de Piparoos" will be served at 10:30 p.m. For a more complete listing of coming event in San Diego, tee WHATS DOING starting on Page 12. -NANCY REED FORMER S.D.

SYMPHONY MANAGER RETURNS Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M. '80s doing on sUge Wednesday night at the Del Mar Fair? The Athens, quartet which headlines the more appropriate Hollywood Palladium tonight did look out of place amid the swirl of Ferris wheels and livestock exhibits, but Wednesday's experimental booking proved a winner on two levels. Mel Simas, entertainment director for the fair, said that R.E.M. was part of a campaign to lure more heavy-spending teen-agers to the annual, two-week event Wednesday's turnout was estimated at a healthy 9.000. The exposure also was just what R.E.M.

needs. The quartet, with iu emphasis on sometimes hypnotizing musical moods, may be the darling of the nation's pop critics, but it has only begun to catch the attention of the mainstream audience. In a multiple-choice quiz, many rock fans might still mistake the name R.E.M. for a motor-oil additive. Wednesday's concert, held in the fair's racetrack area, allowed the band to play before twice as many people as will see it Please see COUNTRY FAIR, Page 18 SAN DIEGO Richard Bass, who was general manager of the San Diego Symphony in 1977 and 1978, will return as executive director of the orchestra, it was announced Thursday.

Effective Aug. 15, Bass will replace Robert Boyd, who is resigning to pursue "other career opportunities." In making the announcement, symphony president Lou dimming praised Bass's "extensive experience in arts management" Cumming said that "with the financial reporting mechanisms set firmly in place by Bob Boyd, Mr. Bass will be able to pursue the artistic and development challenges of the organization." Bass, who has worked as a French hornist and instructor in music theory, is director of the classical division of Regency Artists a Los Angeles artists management firm. He was manager of Grant Park Concerts, Chicago Park District, from 1968 to 1973. From 1973 to 1976 he was concerts manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, second in command to Ernest Fleischmann.

He left the general manager post of the San Diego Symphony in May, 1978, to become managing director of the Minnesota Orchestra and Orchestra Hall. The symphony also announced that orchestra manager Kathleen Butera would be leaving to become assisUnt manager with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It also was confirmed that symphony vice president M.B. (Del) Merryman has been nominated to replace Cumming as orchestra president when Cumming's two-year term expires at the end of July. MOVIE REVIEWS THERE'S THE IRRESISTIBLE -AND THE RESISTIBLE 'POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE' By SHEILA BENSON.

Times Film Critic 'RHINESTONE' Make-overs always have provided some of the best fun in movies: watching to see if Eliza Doolittle will drop her H's under stress, or how Eddie Murphy expands almost visibly to fill Dan Aykroyd's seat on the commodities exchange. So a reverse twist, turning a silk-suited city feller into a countrified sow's ear, might be delightful. On paper. However, there is an arrogance running through "Rhinestone" (San Diego area theaters), as we watch Dolly Parlon attempt to turn New York cabbie Sylvester Stallone into a country singer it's almost monumental. Somewhere it has been decided that the presence of Stallone is charm enough.

If you have him, wisdom seems to run. you can pass off feeble (purloined) jokes, insult humor and a poverty -level script and no one will be the wiser. What no one seemed to notice is that the sweetness of the very early Stallone is long gone. On display here is a truly poisonous personality, body by Jake (or whomever) notwithstanding. Even the idea of Stallone poking fun at his own palooka image doesn't work, because his put-down attitude toward everyone else in the film is so pervasively unpleasant.

It's hard to outshine the sunny Dolly Parton, especially a Dolly paved with rhineslones, so Stallone wisely doesn't Please tee' RHINESTONE: Page 8 There's a rhythm to "The Pope of Greenwich Village" (San Diego area theaters) that's irresistible: a cadence from the stickball games and the coffeehouses of Little Italy, where Sinatra is still king and the streets are safe for kids and grandmas because of scuzzy guys with names like Bedbug Eddie. The wonder of this explosively funny, Uutly dangerous movie is that it's without a single false note. Vincent Patrick's screenplay from his own book may not be particularly deep, but it is wonderfully entertaining and is played for all it's worth by a superb ensemble of actors. Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts will get most of the attention, but director Stuart Rosenberg's cast is perfection down to the very smallest role. Rourke and Roberts play best friends, Charlie and Paulie, cousins reared on Little IUly's Carmine Street, where Ulk is still a pungent art and the social clubs are full of guys like Jimmy the Cheese Man, Nicky the Nose and Carlos Moth Balls.

Wheeling and dealing onto the thin edge of disaster, the interplay of these two electric young actors is better than simple street-perfect characteriza-tions-they are like instrumentalists, each with his own musical voice. In the perceptive words of Daryl Hannah, Rourke's Maine-bred, tenacious lady, Rourke is "one inch away from 1 Mickey Rourke, left, and Erie Roberts are close buddies to the very end. INSIDE CALENDAR FILM: 'Top Secret!" reviewed by Kevin Thomas. Page II. THEATER: "Evita" reviewed by Lawrence Chris-ton.

Page 14. TV: Tonight on TV and on cable. Page 19. Howard Rosenberg on the perils of professional TV watching. Page 20.

becoming a good person." Roberts, with his innate gift of grab, is a good city block away from any such grace. The interaction of the two is almost ritual by now RoberU will always goof, Rourke will always be his safety net. But the sukes are higher now than even the plunging Roberts has dared before. In selling up a big trucking company cash heist, a three-man Job for which the pair add aging Bronx safecracker Kenneth McMillan, Roberts "forgeU" to tell his partners that the intercepted money belongs to Bedbug Eddie (Burl Young), the neighborhood chieftain and a man with an affinity for hacking people up. The plot is a pull of duties and loyalties.

When Hannah, always able to sec Please see IRRESISTIBLE, Page 10.